Improvement in steam-heaters for railroad cars



'UNITED STATES PATENT Grrrer..

GEORGE B. RIGGIN S, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND ANDREW VAN HORN, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM-HEATERS FOR RAILROAD CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 128,174, dated J une 18, 1872.

' reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure l represents a sectional front view of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a detached section of the steam and return pipe in a larger scale than the previous gures.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts. This invention relates to a steam-heating apparatus with a continuous circulation, in which the heating-pipes are situated beneath the level of the steamgenerator, the condensed water being returned to the generator partly by the pressure of the steam and partly by a vacuum produced at certain intervals in said generator. My apparatus consists essentially of one or more coils, which are exposed to the action of the fire in a furnace, and which connect at their bottom ends with a supplytank while their top ends connect with one or more steam-pipes extending through a heatingjacket, which also serves to return the condensed water into the supply-tank, said heatingjackets being situated beneath the level of the generating-coils and of the supply-tank.

In the drawing, the letter A designates a furnace, which contains one or more coils, B B', so that said coil or coils are exposed to the direct action o f the fire in the furnace.

The lower ends of the coils connect, by pipes a a', with a supply-tank, C, and said pipes are provided with check-valves b b to prevent the steam'from passing through them into the supply-tank.- The upper ends of the coils B B connect with a pipe, D, which extends transversely through the furnace and connects with the steam-pipes E E. These steampipes extend down beneath the level of the generating-coils BB, while the supply-tank C is situated at such a height that the water contained therein will have a tendency to pass,

by its inherent gravity, through the checkvalves b b into the coils. The steam-pipes E E extend through jackets F F, which are closed at their outer ends, while from their inner ends extend pipes G G, through the bottom of the supply-tank and up above the level of the Water contained therein. v

When my apparatus is to be used for heating a railroad car the radiating -jackets F F are placed close down to the bottom of the car, and they are provided with branches-H H, one under each seat. These branches are closed at their outer ends, and through them extend the pipes I I, (see Fig. 3,) branching off from the steam-pipes.

When the apparatus has been supplied with the requisite quantity of water the supplytank is hermetically closed and the' fire is lighted in the furnace. generated in the heating-coils the jackets F F are heated, and in a short time the water in the coils has completely evaporated. A partial vacuum is formed therein and a fresh supply of water passes into said coils from the supply-tank. At the same time the steam passing through the jackets F F condenses, and the condensed water passes back into the supplytank partly by the pressure of the steam, which constantly flows in through the pipes E E,-and partly by the action of the vacuum formed in the supply-tank, whenever a portion of the water contained therein flows down into the generating-coils. By this joint action of the steam and of the vacuum I am enabled to raise the condensed water several feet above the level of the heating-jackets, and a constant circulation of water and steam takes place through my apparatus. f v

It will be readily seen that this steam-heating apparatus is especially adapted to railroad cars, where the furnace and the supplytank must necessarily be placed above the level of the heating-tubes; but it can also be used in buildings or in all places where a similar disposition of the generator and heatingpipes is desirable.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-l- 1. The combination of a heating-jacket, return-pipe, and supply-tank with a steam-pipe,

As soon as steam isV generating-coil, and furnace, substantially in This specification signed by me this 21st day the manner herein shown and described. of March, 1872.

2. The branches H, extending from the heat- GEORGE B. RIGGINS. in g-j acket in a horizontal or inclined direction, in combination with corresponding pipes I Witnesses: branching off from the steam-pipe, substan- W. HAUFF, tiailly as set forth. E. F. KASTENHUBER. 

